The present invention relates to an instrument for pressing objects out of storage spaces, and particularly for pressing tablets, capsules, and the like items from multiple-pack cards. Those cards generally consist of a sheet of plastic with a number of recesses which serve as storage spaces for the items and a burstable covering over the recesses, such as a foil layer. The invention is described here with reference to pharmaceutical packs, but it is, of course, not limited to that use.
To an increasing extent, pharmaceuticals, health and diet preparations, etc. in the form of tablets, capsules, and the like items are packaged in a card consisting of a sheet of flexible plastic or paper with recesses formed for individual items. After the recesses are filled, they are hermetically sealed with a foil covering layer. The aim of this package construction is to enable individual items to be pressed out of their recesses through the foil. These packages have many advantages over conventional bottles, jars, and the like containers in which items, such as drug tablets, have been loosely packaged.
However, the handicapped or elderly may have difficulty in pressing out drug tablets, or like items, from the foil covered recesses, as the force required to burst the foil layer may be too large. Furthermore, coordination of the user's fingers and of both of his hands is required to release the item and to retrieve the item pressed out. Such coordination is often reduced among the elderly and among certain groups of patients, such as those suffering from rheumatism and those who are neurologically handicapped.